Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman confirmed that Deputy Ricky Del Fiorentino was killed in Cleone, a rural area north of Fort Bragg, today just before noon when he was shot in his patrol car by a suspect wanted out of Oregon who was involved in a high speed chase that began near Leggett.

Del Fiorentino, a Fort Bragg resident who coached wrestling, would have turned 49 on May 28. Allman said his patrol car was riddled with bullets.

The suspect, Ricardo Antonio Chaney, 33, later exchanged gunfire with a Fort Bragg Police Department officer, who responded after hearing the shots and found Chaney riffling through Del Fiorentino's vehicle, Allman said. Chaney took Del Fiorentino's gun and is believed to have committed suicide. He also suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, Allman said.